OPEN LETTER OF ARMENIAN ASSOCIATIONS IN SWEDEN

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15:56:10 – 07/10/2009

Open Letter to the President of Armenia, The Speaker of the Armenian
Parliament, The President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia

In the light of the published protocol between the Republic of
Armenia and the Republic of Turkey, regarding the normalisation of
diplomatic relations, the Union of Armenian Associations of Sweden,
is highly critical of the steps taken by the Government of Armenia,
especially due to its total lack of communication with the Armenian
Diaspora in this regard. Let it be clear that we do recognise the
authority of the Armenian Government and the rights invested with
it as the official representative of the Armenian nation, inside
and outside Armenia. However, the Government of Armenia seems to
have totally neglected the role and the situation of the Diaspora,
the direct result of and the heirs to the 1915 Genocide in Turkey.

We looked forward to the meeting in Paris on October 2, 2009, hoping it
would be a dialogue. But, the meeting was rather a monologue, repeating
the same assertions regarding the protocol and its contents which we
have been hearing for the last weeks. It was said that "Armenia is
ready to normalize its ties with Turkey without preconditions". The
Union of Armenian Associations welcomes and supports the normalisation
of relations between Armenia and Turkey, but firmly refuses to accept
that the protocol does not include preconditions. It is redundant
to repeat the issues in detail, since they are clearly known by
the general public, and a short recapitulation will suffice. While
the creation of a commission to re-evaluate "historical differences
and problems" and recognising common borders only can refer to the
Armenian Genocide and its legacy, the text stating "non intervention
in internal affairs of other states," does clearly refer to the
issue of Artsakh. While refuting to acknowledge the semantics of
these formulations, the Government of Armenia has failed in total
to present a viable explanation for why such sentences are included
at all. These concealed preconditions are not the basis of a sincere
rapprochement which this protocol is said to represent.

By entirely ignoring the views of the majority of the Armenian nation,
i.e. the Diaspora, the Government of Armenia is de facto losing its
eligibility as representative for the entire Armenian nation, an
obvious unwise step. The Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden,
strongly recommends the Government and the Parliament of Armenia to
reconsider the contents of the drafted protocol, which if ratified,
will not only seriously damage Armenian interests, crippling it morally
and politically on the international area, it will most definitely
strike a serious blow to the relations between the current Armenian
Administration and its most strategic foreign partner and resource,
the Diaspora.

Nonetheless, let it be reminded once more that the Union of
Armenian Associations in Sweden is in favour of the normalization
of relations between Turkey and Armenia, but only on the basis of a
sincere dialogue, without any preconditions, obvious or concealed,
attempting to downplay the reality of the Armenian Genocide, its
legacy, or subsiding the Armenian support of Artsakh’s right for
self-determination.

The Board of the Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden Stockholm,
Sweden

Press Release Union of Armenian Associations in Sweden Box 237 SE-177
24 Jarfalla Sweden +46 707 73 33 83 info@armeniska.se

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress